Body Bar: Boot Camp

Body Bar Boot Camp is an interval and strength program using the body bar, though dumbbells and a barbell will work perfectly fine for all exercises. Because I only have one body bar, I had to use dumbbells and a barbell for some exercises anyway, and it was not a hassle.
The first half of the video is interval training using a four-inch platform. The best way to describe it is Andre does Mindy. These are all fast feet intervals and I think I have seen Mindy do all of them. I would have liked to have a few plyo intervals mixed in and he does in fact say that there will be some later, but pure plyo intervals never do happen. The intervals are interspersed with leg work, a series of lunge combinations using your body bar or barbell. I'm not sure how long the cardio section was but it went by very quickly.
The second half of the tape is strength work. It begins with a lat row/stretch move where you push your body bar forward at the end of the move; this is tough if you are using a heavier bar. You have to have a lot of control over your weight. He then moves into an interesting set of shoulder exercises. I hate shoulder work but I like these. There's a comb-your-hair move where you take the bar and move it from in from of your nose to behind your head, ending at ear level. This is a close-to-the-head move. The he does lateral lifts and one other move I can't remember. Next up is triceps -- tricep presses, tricep bench press and dips. Biceps are worked in several positions, followed by push-ups, abs and a stretch.
All in all, I liked this workout and it will make a nice addition to my circuit tapes, though not be one of the more challenging ones. I do think that I liked Athletic Power and Potential (Sara's City, $10) a little bit better but this one is a keeper as well, primarily because I liked the strength work.

Instructor Comments:
Andre is much chattier than usual in this video, probably because Mindy is one of his background exercisers! :) It didn't bother me; I think he's funny, although at one point he talks about how Scent of Woman with Robert DeNiro is one of his favorite movies and it kind of bugged me that nobody said it was really Pacino. Minor, I know. The only thing I wish is that you could actually hear the background exercisers when they chat with the instructors, especially when they're people you "know."

Donna Kahwaty